


Are you gay?

by von_gelmini



Series: Starker Bingo 2019 [13]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Howard Stark was a homophobic bastard, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), The Homophobic Language is only used once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-10 03:36:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20521295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/von_gelmini/pseuds/von_gelmini
Summary: Peter has a question for Tony.





	Are you gay?

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Are you gay?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21502360) by [Liraira](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liraira/pseuds/Liraira)

> I'm taking this as my 'Free Space' on the Starker Bingo card.

“Tony?”

Tony furrowed his brow as he worked on the retraction device for his suit. “What, kid?”

Peter waited until Tony turned in his chair away from his workstation and was looking at him. Only thing was, his courage was faltering. He breathed in deeply and plunged on ahead.

“Are you gay?”

Tony’s eyebrows made for the ceiling, his eyes opening wide. He sputtered. “Are you kidding me?” Peter looked serious. “Peter, I’ve bedded more women than the number of months you’ve been alive.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Peter said calmly. “Tony, are you gay?”

“You mean gay gay or gay as a term for people who’ve maybe slept with a guy or two just to try it out.”

“That’s bisexual,” Peter explained. “Are you gay?” he asked again, still calmly, but not letting it drop.

“I… I… Gay guys don’t sleep with all twelve of the Maxim cover models.”

“I thought you missed March?”

Tony shrugged. “Made it up a few years ago.”

“Yeah, but are you gay?”

“Petey, I’ve been in relationships with women, not just slept with them.”

“Um hmm. Lots of gay men have relationships with women. And sleep with women. Especially with _ a lot _ of women. Are you gay, Tony?”

“What makes you think that’s even in the realm of possibility, Peter?”

“You try too hard.”

“What on earth do you mean?”

“You try very hard to make sure that everyone knows you’re not gay. You don’t just sleep with women, you sleep very publicly with women.” He paused. “And you look very un-publicly at men.”

“What!?”

“Not just in a — that’s a handsome guy, he looks well put together — sort of way.”

“How do I look at them, Petey? Since you’re such an expert on _ me_.”

“Ashamed.”

“What!?” Tony repeated himself.

“Attracted, then frightened, then ashamed, Tony.”

“Kid, you’re out of your mind.”

“Do you know what I’ve noticed?”

“No idea,” Tony said.

“I’ve noticed that you haven’t said ‘no’.”

Tony swallowed hard. “I didn’t think that was necessary, given all the evidence to the contrary.”

“Tony, are you gay?”

“No. That good enough for you?”

Peter nodded. “Must’ve been hard, growing up both in the spotlight for your own achievements, getting on covers when you were only four, yet being in the shadow of someone like your father.”

“Did you suddenly get a degree in psychoanalysis?”

Peter huffed a laugh. “Don’t need one to figure this out. It’s a simple logic problem.”

“Why, because you think you might’ve noticed me looking at your ass in the suit?”

“Have you?”

“Hard not to, kid. It’s a tight fitting suit.”

“Hmm. So was Captain Rogers’. Most of your upgrades for the men on the team include that particular feature.”

“Should I put them in baggy jeans just to prove to you that I’m not gay?”

“Didn’t you ever wonder what it would be like to fuck Captain America? Haven’t wondered what it would be like to sink your cock into my ass?”

Tony pulled back, sputtering, his eyes wide again. “Peter, what, and I mean this sincerely, the fuck.”

“Tony, are you gay?”

“What possible difference could it make?”

“Everything in the world.”

Tony shook his head slightly. “No difference at all, kid. The world knows what the world knows about me. Like you said, my life has been splattered across magazine covers since I was four. What there is to know about Tony Stark is public knowledge.”

“Funny, I didn’t see any headlines about your PTSD.”

“I never had PTSD,” Tony insisted. “Just anxiety. Which I took care of on my own.”

Peter shrugged. “If everything there is to know about you is in your press, then why wasn’t that? Why wasn’t the reason your relationship with Pepper imploded?”

“That’s no secret. I’m just me. Not suited to the relationship life for more than a few years at best. Doesn’t help that I’m a hot mess and not worth the effort.”

Peter sighed heavily. “Tony, are you gay?”

“I’m fifty five fucking years old, Peter. Don’t you think I’d know by now if I was?”

“Yes. I think you know.”

“Peter, just because I noticed that you have a cute butt doesn’t mean I’m gay. Like you said, _ maybe _bi. I’ve slept with a few guys in my life. Hasn’t everyone?”

“Not really. So you’re saying that you’re bi.”

“What the hell difference does it make! I sleep with women. That’s all that matters.”

“Matters to who?”

“To me, for fuck’s sake. I’m not like that.”

“Not like what?”

“Not like _ gay_.” 

“There’s a specific way to be gay? Could you tell if I was gay or not?”

Tony laughed. “Kid, you’ve been out with girls before.”

“Yeah. Because it’s hard to be gay when people are watching you.”

“Who’s watching you, Petey. You’ve got a secret identity.”

“Maybe all the bullies in school? Maybe yourself? Maybe it's certain expectations you’re trying to live up to. To force yourself to live up to. You get a crush on a girl because you find one that’s not awful. Like you could spend time with her and it would be the same as spending time with a friend. You think that’s the way it’s supposed to feel. But it turns out it’s not. Because that’s not what she wants. 

“So you find another girl to take to a dance because she’s pretty. Like that painting you looked at in the art museum. You get along with her but she still feels like a painting to you. So there’s another girl and you take her to prom. You do all the things that you’re supposed to do with a girl who you take to prom. Friction is friction and parts respond like you think they’re supposed to. 

“So, clearly you’re not gay _ like that_. You get to college and practically the first thing that happens is some girl you’re studying with puts her hand down your pants. And you’re not gay, so you let her. Only you’ve never been able to get certain kinds of thoughts out of your head since you were old enough to have those kinds of thoughts. But you sleep with girls, so you’re not gay.”

“Peter, no one would care if you’re gay or not. I can’t think of one person who would judge you. Sure, maybe when you were in high school, but you’ve been away from that for awhile.”

“I’ve slept with girls. But I’m gay.” Peter shrugged. “And now I’ve slept with guys.”

Tony blinked. “That’s fine, Peter. Honestly. Whether you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend doesn’t make a difference to me or to anyone else.”

“I know.”

“Then why worry about it.”

“I’m not the one worried.”

Tony laughed. “I’m certainly not. I’m pretty obviously heterosexual with a couple of experimentations in my youth, like a lot of guys have. Doesn’t make me gay, Peter.”

“Tony, are you gay?”

“If I say yes, can you stop asking me that stupid question?” Tony asked. He continued, irritation growing in his voice. “What would you know of it? What it’s like? Things in your world are so different. Some celebrity comes out and they sell a million more records than before. It doesn’t get them banned from the radio. Some guy fucks you and you’re not gonna die. Your family… Aunt May?... she couldn't give a damn that you’re gay. You won’t lose her. You won’t get the shit beat out of you. You won’t be going to hell and break your mother’s heart. You won’t lose everything you’ve worked for your whole goddamn life because the world you live in is run by men with a capital M and they don’t like faggots. Like you said, friction is friction. Women are pretty and nice and cooperative and there. And since you _ can_, you _ do_. What the hell difference would it make if I was gay?”

“It would make a difference to me.”

“Peter, if you want me to fuck you, I don’t have to be gay to do that.”

Peter laughed. “Yeah, cos it’s not gay if you’re on top.”

Tony laughed along with Peter. “Even _ I’m _ not that stupid. I’ve fucked guys before. If you want, I can fuck you. But I’m not gay.”

“Then you can’t fuck me. Sorry.”

“What? You don’t sleep with bi men?”

“I do. But you’re not bi. I’ve never seen you with a man. Publicly.”

“What, the closet isn’t a thing in your world?”

“No. I mean, yes it obviously still is. But not in _ my _ world. I sleep with bi guys. I sleep with gay guys. I don’t sleep with closeted guys.”

“Yeah. You’re nineteen. You’re a kid, Peter. That’s _ obvious_.”

“And you’re fifty five years old. Which of us is living in the present?” Peter paused. “Are you gay, Tony?”

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “It doesn’t matter, Peter. The world knows what the world knows and I’m not about to contradict that.”

“I’m not ‘the world’, Tony.”

“I’ve been married. I have a kid I see every other weekend. Do you even know how ridiculous it would sound, with my history, if I said something like that? They might go along with me saying I’m bi, but even that’s a stretch. Not a person in the world would believe I’m gay.”

“I’m not ‘the world’, Tony,” Peter repeated

“I mean it, kid. You can’t even begin to imagine…”

“You’re right. I can’t begin to imagine it. It must have been hell.”

“What begins as an effort becomes a habit becomes easy becomes your life. You don’t get to be my age and just suddenly get yourself a different life.”

“Why not?”

“You just _ don’t_!”

“You got yourself a different life seventeen years ago.”

“One mid-life crisis per person, kid. That was something totally different. I became a superhero.” Tony shook his head, exhausted by the conversation. “There are still people who would rather die in a collapsed building than let a gay man save them. And that’s just talking about the United States. We’re not even in the neighborhood of talking about the Middle East, Africa, China, or Russia. Places where I’d be arrested, at best, for trying to help them if a damn wormhole opened above the Burj Khalifa instead of Grand Central next time. Even if they grudgingly accepted my help as part of the Avengers, it wouldn’t change a damn thing if Tony Stark went on a visit there. Do you have any idea how much business Stark Industries does in those parts of the world?” Tony snorted. “The stock drop we took when I got us out of weapons would look like nothing compared to this.”

“I don’t see people not buying iPhones because the CEO of Apple is gay. Or not using PayPal because the guy who co-founded it is gay. Ditto one of the founders of Facebook. And that’s not even touching the number of VC firms that are headed by gay men.”

“Peter, even if you were right about me — and I’m not saying you are — things don’t work in my world like they do when you’re a college student at a liberal college in the most liberal city in the world.”

“Why?”

Tony huffed angrily. “They just don’t!”

Peter laughed. “All of a sudden, Tony Stark starts caring about the world’s rules and people’s opinion of him.”

“I have a kid…”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Tony. Do you think Morgan is going to give a shit if her dad’s gay? If millennials don’t give a damn about it, what do you think _ her _ generation’s gonna think about it? She’ll never know a world that doesn’t have gay equality in it.”

“Even if I was able to think of a remotely good reason that the public needed to know about my private life, I could _ maybe _ come out as bi. There’s a lot of people who’d be okay with knowing that you’re at least _ part _ normal. But why would I do that and risk so much? There’s not one person who gives a damn if I’m gay or not.”

“I do. I can’t imagine myself with a man who isn’t honest with himself. Who, even if he did _ say _that he was bi, is continually ashamed of that fact.”

“I already told you I’d be happy to take you to bed and fuck you.”

“I can get that on Grindr.” Peter said, frustratedly. “Do you have any idea of how many men in a three block radius of this place would like to fuck a nineteen year old twink with a tight ass who’ll bareback because he’s on PrEP? It wouldn’t take me even two minutes.”

Tony blinked trying to take all that in, and to figure out what some of those words meant. He gave up. “If your secret identity went public and the world learned that Spider-man was gay, no one would care. The fact that some millennial comes out as gay wouldn’t even make the news above the fold.”

“Your arguments are all the same and they’re all bullshit. Your company would take a hit? It’s taken hits before. SI wouldn’t get kicked off of the Dow. Not even close. Your daughter would be ashamed? Not even a remote possibility. Your reputation would suffer? Why the fuck would you care about that. Your reputation as you and not as Iron Man is shit already. Some dead people would disapprove? How long are you going to let Howard Stark run your fucking life? You think giving him fifty five years is enough?”

“Shit kid…” Tony actually felt the kick to his ribs.

“I love you, Tony. I hate seeing you fuck yourself up for people who never gave a damn about you.”

“I… uh… that’s… a whole lot to unpack there, Peter. Starting with the first part,” he said, avoiding the rest. “I think you’re mistaking hero worship for love.”

“What part of you do you think I’m ‘worshipping’ right now? I know your bullshit Tony. And god, am I’m tired of it.”

“No one’s asking you to be here.”

“Actually, someone did. My ‘internship’ was five years ago. I’m not here chasing the dream of being an Avenger, I’ve been one for three years, my time. I’ve lived here for two years. Since I started college and you asked me to move in. Not long after your divorce. And I haven’t exactly seen a line of women traipsing through your bedroom during that time.”

“I’m old. Not exactly prime meat on the market.”

Peter huffed. “Like there wouldn’t be fangirls lined up around the block to fuck Iron Man _ or _Tony Stark even at fifty five years old. You could be on your deathbed and still score if you wanted to.”

“The last person I was with didn’t exactly end well. I’m just not ready…”

“Oh fuck Tony,” Peter said exasperatedly. “You’d rather stare at my ass than take this month’s Playboy cover model to bed. And then hate yourself for staring at it. Don’t you ever get tired of doing that? Letting all those people live in your head?”

“I don’t know how to evict them,” Tony said quietly, “they’ve been living there so long they’ve got rent controlled apartments.”

Peter rolled his chair closer to Tony’s. “You just _ decide _to do it.” He took Tony’s hands in his. “You’re Tony Stark. You can do whatever the hell you want to.”

“They’re all gonna…”

“Stop it. They’re gonna do whatever they’re gonna do. So what? At some point you have to decide to start living your own life.”

There was a long pause as they sat, holding hands, Peter watching Tony and Tony watching their hands.

“Tony, are you…”

“Yes Peter.”

“You gonna do something about that?” Peter said, smiling softly.

Tony leaned forward, about to kiss Peter. 

Peter put his finger over Tony’s lips and pushed him away with it. “I don’t date closeted guys. It’s fine if you want to stay that way. You’ve told me a million reasons why you should. And I don’t want to manipulate you, but that’s a hard and fast rule I have about _ my _ life. I won’t pretend to be something I’m not. I’m not going to be ashamed of what I am. Dating someone who’s closeted means I have to go back in the closet or lie about the fact that he’s dating me. I’m not willing to do that. I already have enough big secrets in my life. That’s about all the stress I can handle in that regard.”

Tony sat back, closed his eyes, and sighed. “So I wouldn’t even have the excuse of having a boyfriend.”

“No.” Peter sat back as well. “I have no problem with you being bi. _ If _you’re actually bi and not just fucking women because you were told you have to.”

“I’m not bi.”

“I know.”

“How?” Tony furrowed his brow. “How did you know. So I look at your ass. So I look at guys. Given my record no one would make the jump to gay and skip over bi.”

Peter sighed. “It’s how you beat yourself up. The way you keep trying to hurt yourself. It’s hell to watch the person you love do that to himself.”

“I…” Tony stopped himself from repeating his arguments. “We still haven’t gotten to that whole ‘I love you’ thing.”

“Tony, I used to hero worship you. I mean, who wouldn’t? You saved my life when I was five. Then I had a crush on you. You were bigger than life when you showed up in my living room. But it hasn’t been a crush for a long time. Not since I got back. Dying will do that to a person. You’d know. It changes everything.”

“I couldn’t go back after the Battle,” Tony admitted. “There was the ghost of a man who died walking around that house and it wasn’t me. I couldn’t explain it, I just had to get away from it.”

“Yeah. I’ve run into a lot of people who got dusted that happened to. It’s surprisingly common.”

“So…” Tony began. “If I imploded my life again, you’d consider going out with me?”

“I kinda love you, so yeah. I’d consider it.”

“I… God I have a bad track record at this, Petey. Seriously bad. I don’t see why it would be different with you.”

“Because it’s honest. Because if you do want it, it'll be something that _ you _want, not that the world wants.”

“_If _ I want it? Peter, I’ve been in love with you for a long time. And hated myself for it. It’s not something that you’d understand…”

“You’d be surprised at how much baggage us ‘enlightened’ millennials still carry. Let’s see… shall we start with… guys are for fucking, girls are for loving? That old tune is still being sung by enlightened millennials. Or where do you think Grindr comes from? Half of the guys on there are married or have a girlfriend. And they’re not bi.”

“Huh. I hoped you kids had shaken that one off.”

“It’s hard to when that’s what every TV show tells you from the time you’re old enough to be plopped down in front of it. Lots of implied fucking, very little love. And if there is love, they die before the season ends.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” Tony said.

Peter chuckled. “Well, you do good at dropping bombshells at press conferences.”

“If everything’s a disaster?”

“Then it’s a disaster,” Peter said. “We move on.”

“We?”

“Yes, Tony. There’s that whole ‘I love you’ thing. We.”

“There’s the age gap…” Tony said.

“Yeah. You’re about five years younger than me.”

“Fuck Pete, you don’t give me a break, do you?”

Peter laughed. “Not when what you’re saying is bullshit. So there’s an age gap. I don’t care. You don’t care. That’s all that matters. Please stop listening to what the world thinks.” He took Tony’s hands again. “Especially stop listening to what Howard thinks.”

“Baby, that’s a hard one.”

“I know.” Peter stood, turned, and sat across Tony’s lap, putting his arm around the man’s neck. “Try listening to someone new.” He leaned over and kissed Tony. Tony was startled but kissed back hesitantly. “Listen to someone who loves you.”

~~~~~

“It’s been awhile. Last time I was in front of you was after the Battle for Earth. As many of you know, I died that day. Wasn’t expecting to come back from that one. But apparently magic is a real thing in the world now. As are multiverses. I’m getting away from the point. Umm…” Tony shuffled through his cue cards. “They say that dying changes a person. They’re right. It’s a real awakening coming back from nothingness. Er… sorry about that guys… there was no white light, no heaven, no hell.”

A loud cacophony of questions flew, none of which got answered.

“Huh. You think that would’ve gotten rid of my fears of _ that_.” Tony muttered underneath the noise. He began speaking again. 

“I’m getting away from the point again. My life changed on that day. Dying makes you think about all the things you’ve lied about over the years. To other people, but mostly to yourself. When you’re dead, it doesn’t matter what the world thinks of you. Honesty is the only thing you care about.

“I can’t seem to get to the point. The fact is, that despite appearances, and man were there a _ lot _of appearances, I’m gay.”

There was a lot of scoffing laughter in the room. Someone said, “Can you get to that point anytime soon? Some of us have deadlines.” More laughter.

Tony cocked his head to the side in a shrug. “That _ is _the point.”

“Do you mean that you’re bisexual?” one of the reporters asked.

“No. I know that’s a lot to take in, given the number of women I’ve…” Tony shrugged. “Given the number of women. And I didn’t _ turn _gay after the Battle. It’s just… the world tells you it’s better if you’re not. The world isn’t there when you’re dead. I’m gay. I always have been. It’s time I stopped lying about it.”

Tony ignored the questions and the loud shouting. He stepped off the podium and through the doors behind it. Pepper was waiting there.

“You still know how to give a press conference, Tony. Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”

“I’m sorry, Pepper, about us.” Tony sighed. 

“Wait. That was real?”

“Real as it gets.”

“But…”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“How? Why?”

“Things happen. I learned to hide it. To live the way it was expected I should live. When it was just one night stands, it didn’t matter. But I’m sorry I did that to you.”

“Is that why you left?”

“I… it’s… it’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been through it. Dying, I mean. Things become harder to hide. There’s nothing but you when you stare into that void. I didn’t like what stared back.”

“But it’s been two years.” 

“I’m slow on the uptake. What was there after, wasn’t my life anymore. It was a ghost life. I knew I didn’t fit it anymore. It just took me awhile to figure out why.” Tony paused. “I know this is going to play hell with the company. If you want me to lay low for awhile…”

“Tony, I’m not Obadiah. We’ll manage it.” Pepper looked at him sideways. “You really meant it.”

“Yeah.”

“Is there someone?”

“Might be. Maybe. I’m hoping there is.”

“So that’s why you did it?”

“No. It took… I don’t know… an intervention of sorts. There was a lot…” Tony breathed in heavily. “There still _ is _a lot that I’m going to have to work through. A lot of dead people living in my head. Some of them it’ll take awhile to get rid of.”

“Oh,” Pepper said slowly, realizing Tony meant his father.

“Yeah. It wasn’t… great. Not that that’s an excuse. It was my decision to make things easier long after I didn’t have to.”

Pepper put her hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I never realized. I’m sorry.”

“That’s my line,” Tony said chuckling quietly. “I had it pointed out to me that I’ve let those people live in my head for fifty five years. If dying doesn’t give me a reason to kick them out, nothing will.”

“The company will manage. At least you’re not taking us out of clean energy like you did weapons,” she said smiling.

“Will _ you _manage? I lied to you.”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Pepper said honestly.

“In my defense, I’d been lying to myself for so long, I believed it. I _ wanted _it to be real. In a lot of ways it was. I did love you.”

“It’s just… all those times… when we… I’m sorry, Tony, I’m trying, okay?”

“Okay.”

~~~~~

Tony didn’t lay low. He went on living his life _ exactly _ as before. Going to SI meetings. Going to whatever nonsense he got an invitation to that week. Being public in the same way as he was before the announcement. Whenever he went out, he got a lot of ambushing questions. He answered those he wanted to and ignored those he didn’t want to answer. 

If one of the places he went out to was the same guy he went to when he worked on his ‘anxiety’, no one needed to know that. 

What he didn’t do was ask Peter out. They talked a lot, but then they always talked a lot. There were just new subjects added to the discussion. So much had changed since he was… younger than Peter. They laughed a lot at the differences. There were other things that weren’t laughed about. Tony debated a lot over whether he should talk to Peter about them. It didn't seem right to dump any of that on the kid. He waited until he talked each of them out with the guy he was seeing first. That way he could keep some emotional distance and keep it to ‘telling’ instead of ‘dumping’. 

It was three months before Tony asked Peter if he would like to go out to dinner. He’d like to say he took things slow, but he wasn’t exactly a ‘take things slow’ kind of guy. Some things didn’t change even if the gender of the date did. It was another two months before they both decided it was ridiculous to pretend that Peter spent any nights in the guest room. He hadn’t spent a night in there since the night of their first date. The room was converted to Peter’s study.

It was 364 days after their first date that Peter asked Tony to marry him. He knew Tony well enough to know that he had an outrageous dinner arranged to propose on their anniversary. Peter did it the night before. Not to take the wind out of Tony’s sails, but because he knew that being proposed to rather than being the one proposing… being the one wanted instead of being the one wanting… was something Tony couldn’t even begin to imagine. The fancy dinner was still had, but for their anniversary.

~~~~~

“Let’s go to Vegas,” Tony suggested.

Peter put his foot down. “If you want something quick, City Hall is fine.”

Tony put _ his _foot down. “City Hall is not just fine. Vegas has a certain cachet.”

“I am not getting married in an Elvis chapel, Tony.”

“Your choice. It’s fat Elvis or it’s a proper wedding with everything.”

Any time Peter objected to the lavishness during the planning, Tony reminded him that fat Elvis was still an option.

“Fine. If you keep it under five million, on our tenth anniversary we can renew our vows in front of Elvis. But the one in black leather, not the white jumpsuit.”

“Five million? That’s nothing! I’m a billionaire Petey.”

“Five million or no Elvis, fat or skinny.”

“Fine,” Tony said with a huff.

Peter laughed. “I can’t believe you’re giving in to me for the sake of an Elvis impersonator.”

“Who said impersonator?” Tony said, digging in his pocket and coming up with a tech device. “I still have the time GPS.”

“Okay. That’s cool. Goddammit Tony, that’s fuckin’ cool. I kinda hate you right now.”

“You kinda love me.”

~~~~~

“I do not need someone to give me away,” Tony objected when they got to the point where they were planning the actual ceremony and the rehearsal dinner. “I’m going to be waiting for you at the front.”

“Tony, did you forget the whole, we’re gay, thing? I am not your bride.”

“You wear lingerie for me,” Tony said smirking.

“Yes, I wear lingerie for you. Still doesn’t make me your bride.”

“May’s going to be giving you away.”

“Yeah. I wish there was a better name for it.”

“Walking you down the aisle?” Tony suggested. “I still would rather wait for you at the front.”

“Pepper volunteered last time I talked to her. I know why you just want to wait there,” Peter said and squeezed Tony’s hand.

“That’s not… No. That doesn’t work for me.”

“Why not? She’s the last one who had custody of you,” Peter said, smiling.

“I am not the family dog, Peter. No one had ‘custody’ of me.”

Peter giggled. “You’d look good in a collar though.”

Tony grinned widely. “You’d look better.”

“Tony! Don’t say those kinds of things. Not when we have to sort this out by tomorrow night and get it to the planner. The wedding is in three months and we have to book a venue for the dinner still.”

“I can _ buy _a venue for the dinner.”

“Five million budget, remember?”

Tony paused. “Pepper would do that?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah. Just because you’re the most avoidant man in the galaxy…”

“Multiverse…” Tony helpfully supplied. He was more avoidant than just a galaxy could encompass. 

“Multiverse, doesn’t mean that some of us aren’t adults and talk to each other over this wonderful device you made called a StarkPhone.”

“Oh god. I’m dead.”

“She’s not mad at you. Hasn’t ever been mad at you. It took her awhile to understand, yeah. But the whole dance you do trying to keep from running into her every time you bring Morgan home is ridiculous. Did I say you were five years younger than me? Make it ten.”

“Peter, you’re only twenty two.”

“Yeah, and you’re twelve, Tony. Get over it. She has. And she’d like to be the one giving you away… walking you down the aisle… whatever it's called. She’s the one who suggested it.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Peter shook his head. “I am marrying a literal child.”

“But you love me,” Tony said, miming heart eyes.

~~~~~

The ceremony itself was beautiful. They had it in a church, with the literal god to which the church was dedicated as the celebrant. Who’s going to deny a god the right to marry someone. Thor did have a tendency to ramble, but eventually they got to the “I do's”. 

Everyone expected Peter to cry. No one expected Tony to do more than _maybe _ just sniffle, not to actually openly cry as well during the vows. Peter had hoped, and the fact that Tony did nearly broke his heart from happiness. Tony was still very much Tony, but he’d become a Tony who was being more honest with himself about everything, including his emotions.

Peter was certain that Tony went over budget on the wedding and reception at the Plaza, but it was so beautiful that he pretended he didn’t know about any missing receipts. Rhodey and Nat were Tony’s best… people. Ned and MJ were Peter’s. And both sets thoroughly embarrassed the couple with their reception speeches, like they should. There were a ridiculous number of guests and Peter was certain that some of them _ had _ to be crashers. Pepper explained that there were just that many people, SI contacts and people in positions of power, who had to be invited. 

After two years, Peter was only starting to get used to the fact that everything single thing Tony did was under public scrutiny, whether he wanted the attention or not. Being a part of it rather than just knowing about it, helped him understand Tony. Peter was insistent that Tony take time for himself, just for himself. He had no objection to Tony getting away from everything, including him, for a bit. It never ceased to amaze the man how Peter understood things that Tony didn’t understand about himself. Sometimes he thought it must be an unexplored part of the kid’s spidey senses. Except Peter could be absolutely clueless about people who weren’t Tony.

After the reception, somewhere around when the sky was starting to get blue, they were in the elevator heading to the penthouse. Tony hooked an arm around Peter’s neck and bent to put the other behind Peter’s thighs.

“You are _ not _ carrying me over the threshold,” Peter said using his strength to resist Tony’s attempt. “How many times do I have to remind you that I’m not your bride? Besides, if either of us should do it, I should.”

Tony quirked a questioning eyebrow.

Peter grinned. “I’m stronger.”

“Fine. Then carry _ me _ over the threshold,” Tony joked. And then was startled when Peter actually did. “Does this make me the bride?”

“It makes you the idiot for thinking that in a relationship with two men, one of us could possibly be ‘the bride’. Just because you’re an idiot though, doesn’t mean that you’re not going to have a heart attack when you see what I’m wearing under this suit.”

“Shit, kid,” Tony said smiling as he took both of Peter’s hands in his and started walking them to the bedroom. “Trying to collect the widow’s portion so soon? I knew I should’ve had a prenup.”

“Absolutely not. I don’t need a prenup to protect my valuable beat up car and stack of textbooks from your gold digging ways,” Peter said laughing.

They teased and laughed all the way to the bedroom. Where, when they stood next to the bed, Tony gave Peter a kiss that curled the young man’s toes and seemed never to end. It took a long while for Peter to recover enough to kiss back. Okay, maybe he was the bride.

~~~~~

Peter managed to find a Pacific island retreat that was isolated and filled with people who knew what the word ‘discretion’ meant. Not one picture or detail of their honeymoon made it to the pages of anything.

Peter was enjoying the first bit of silence they’d had since Tony’s news conference. Tony was enjoying the first bit of silence he’d had _ in his life_. There were literally no demands on him to do anything other than make love to his beautiful husband. That wasn’t a demand, it was a delight.

In a king sized bed covered in crisp white sheets, surrounded by drapes of soft mosquito netting, with crystal blue water seen out of every window, in the afterglow, their bodies tangled together, sharing languid kisses, Peter smiled and asked his husband a question.

“Tony, are you gay?”

“Yeah kid, I am,” Tony said as he kissed Peter again.  


**Author's Note:**

> My Starker blog on tumblr is [starker-stories](https://starker-stories.tumblr.com/).  
Come on by and visit.


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